海角大神

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2025
August
09
Saturday

Monitor Daily Podcast

August 09, 2025
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Clayton Collins
Director of Editorial Innovation

Welcome to your Saturday Daily.听

For his report today, part of our occasional series on the halting evolution of race relations since the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, Cameron Pugh went to Sanford, Florida. Teenager Trayvon Martin was killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer there in 2012.听

I asked Cameron if, on this assignment, he鈥檇 found credible evidence of respect and trust, two prerequisites for progress. He had. An activist who had criticisms of the city鈥檚 efforts also took time to commend officials by name. And Sanford鈥檚 project manager on that April day 13 years ago described an outlook that set a constructive, conciliatory tone.

鈥淭hey were visitors and they were welcome,鈥� Andrew Thomas told Cameron, referring to protesters who poured in. 鈥淸W]e didn鈥檛 need a confrontation with them. We needed to accommodate them 鈥� and that was the approach and strategy.鈥�

藴
Some staff recognition: Cameron joined me last May on a podcast to discuss his reporting on Black women and maternal health, a story that made him a finalist at today鈥檚 National Association of Black Journalists awards. (Joining Cameron are 2025 Monitor NABJ award finalists聽Ira Porter听补苍诲听Ken Makin.)

As always, find our latest news updates this weekend at CSMonitor.com.听

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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Cameron Pugh /海角大神
Andrew Thomas, shown in downtown Sanford, Florida, July 16, 2025, was a project manager for the city at the time of Trayvon Martin's death.

How the birthplace of Black Lives Matter rebuilt trust after Trayvon Martin鈥檚 killing

( 9 min. read )

Trayvon Martin鈥檚 killing launched the movement that became Black Lives Matter. Whether the protests have brought lasting reforms to the U.S. remains an open question. But in Sanford, Florida, change has taken root. Part of a series.

By Cameron Pugh , reporting from Sanford, Fla.
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What keeps local reporters going? 鈥榃e live here and we want a better society.鈥�

( 8 min. read )

One in 3 U.S. counties no longer has a single full-time reporter, depriving communities of a reliable mirror. Meet Margaret Coker and the other journalists fighting to keep local news alive.

By Doug Struck , reporting from Savannah, Ga.
SOURCE:

The Local Journalist Index, a collaboration between Muck Rack and Rebuild Local News (2025)

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Jacob Turcotte/Staff
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In India, a booming comedy scene becomes a free speech frontier

( 6 min. read )

One of the greatest challenges for any democracy is to determine the boundaries of free speech. India鈥檚 booming stand-up scene is the latest battleground for that debate, as some comedians face backlash from Hindu nationalists.

By Fahad Shah , reporting from Mumbai, India
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Q&A
Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
Philip Orbanes, shown in the game room of his home in Gloucester, Massachusetts, collects Monopoly memorabilia, including unusual boards like Monopoly X.

How Monopoly games rescued POWs from German prison camps

( 7 min. read )

Much has been written about the heroism of Allied troops during World War II. Less well-known is the role that a popular board game played in helping POWs escape from German prison camps.

By Erin Douglass
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Essay

A cluster of whorled gastropod seashells display a range of textures and colors, including blues, browns, and oranges.
Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff/File
A cluster of gastropod seashells displays a range of colors and textures.

鈥楾he beach is my teacher.鈥� How an unexpected encounter changed my view of beauty.

( 4 min. read )

When she crossed paths with an enigmatic stranger on a windswept beach, a writer was left with a lasting impression: Far from skin-deep, beauty is forged over time.

By Kimberley Lovato
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Viewfinder

Issei Kato/Reuters
A man keeps candles lit during a ceremony Aug. 8 at Hypocenter Park in Nagasaki, southwestern Japan, to commemorate the lives lost after an atomic bomb was dropped on the city Aug. 9, 1945, three days after Hiroshima and six days before Japan鈥檚 World War II surrender.
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( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte. )

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2025
August
09
Saturday

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